Amazon in talks to buy Texas Instruments’ mobile processor arm

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According to the Israeli publication Calcalist, Jeff Bezos and his cohorts at Amazon may be planning a bold move to help bolster the company’s future tablet ambitions. Amazon, it’s said, is currently in negotiations to acquire Texas Instruments’ mobile SoC unit.

News of the talks comes just shortly after TI announced that it was going to be shifting focus from mobile processors to embedded systems — specifically in-vehicle systems. It’s a segment where Texas Instruments sees a stable, profitable future. The system-on-a-chip business itself, however, it clearly feels is a bit of a risky proposition moving forward.

Enter Amazon. The retail giant has leaned on the TI OMAP chip in all of its tablet offerings. The same OMAP 4430 processor that powered the BlackBerry PlayBook was selected for the originally Kindle Fire , and now the 4460 and 4470 are driving the next generation of Fire tablets.

Picking up TI’s smartphone and tablet chip division would give Amazon greater control over its own design and manufacturing processes, and could also help reduce expenses. Bezos recently reiterated that the company sells Kindle devices at cost and depends on future Amazon purchases from its tablet users to turn a profit.

Some in the industry are speculating that the acquisition could put other manufacturers who currently use TI chips in a tight spot. But if TI thinks it’s time to move on anyway, those OEMs would likely have had to start looking elsewhere — and they already have. Motorola has branched out beyond OMAP, and others could certainly find willing providers in Samsung, Qualcomm, Intel, and Nvidia, too.